Since most patients do not accurately report what they eat, a new medical laboratory test could provide doctors and researchers with the ‘first independent indicator of the quality of a person’s diet’
It may soon be possible to measure the health of a person’s diet by use of a 5-minute diagnostic test recently developed by British scientists. The test can reveal the facts about how well a person eats and has the potential to find clinical value among medical professionals and in clinical laboratories.
What adds to the interest in this test is the widespread incidence of obesity in most developed nations around the world. It would be a useful tool for medical professionals who have wanted better ways to manage this health problem.
The laboratory test was developed by scientists from Imperial College London, Newcastle University and Aberystwyth University. It measures biological markers in urine created by the breakdown of food such as red meat, chicken fish, fruit, and vegetables. The analysis also provides clues as to how much fat, sugar, fiber, and protein a person has eaten.
The study was co-funded by the United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research and the United Kingdom Medical Research Council. The researchers published their findings in the Jan. 12, 2017 issue of the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
Separating Truth from Fiction about What People Eat
Gary Frost, PhD, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Imperial College London and senior author of the study, explained the role this new biomarker test can play in separating truth from fiction when people self-report their dietary habits.
“A major weakness in all nutrition and diet studies is that we have no true measure of what people eat,” stated Frost in an article published in the Daily Mail. “We rely solely on people keeping logs of their daily diets—but studies suggest around 60% of people misreport what they eat to some extent. This test could be the first independent indicator of the quality of a person’s diet—and what they are really eating.”
Gary Frost, PhD, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Imperial College London, is the senior author of a British study on a new urine test that can reveal if your diet is a threat to your health. Researchers used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to analyze study participants’ urine and create distinct metabolic profiles that outlined how well a person ate. While still in the early stages of development, researchers hope the test could become a part of weight loss programs as well as provide clues to the diets of patients with other medical issues. About 60% of people misreport what they eat, the researchers stated. (Photo copyright: Twitter.)
Researchers predict the technology could benefit a wide range of people, from those participating in weight loss programs to patients rehabilitating from events such as heart attacks.
“We envisage the tool being used by dieticians to help guide their patients’ dietary needs, or even by individuals who are interested in finding out more about the relationship between diet and their health,” said Elaine Holmes, PhD, Professor of Chemical Biology in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London.
Potato Chips and Sausages
During the small initial study, 20 volunteers followed one of four controlled sets of meals, ranging from very healthy to very unhealthy, during four separate 72-hour inpatient stays at a London research facility. Scientists throughout the day collected urine samples, which were analyzed for metabolites using magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Researchers developed urinary metabolite models for each of the four studied diets and identified the associated metabolic profiles, which can be used for comparison with any person’s urine profile to reveal how healthy that person’s diet is. Researchers tested their findings for accuracy using data from a previous Danish study.
Study co-author Isabel Garcia-Perez, PhD, from the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial, explained the challenges ahead for researchers as they work to bring the test to market within the next two years.
“We need to develop the test further so we can monitor the diet based on a single urine sample, as well as increase the sensitivity,” she said in an Imperial College news release.“This will eventually provide a tool for personalized dietary monitoring to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. We’re not at the stage yet where the test can tell us a person ate 15 chips yesterday and two sausages, but it’s on the way.”
Desmond Walsh, PhD, of the United Kingdom Medical Research Council, told BBC News that this simple urine test could have a major impact on the field of nutrition.
“Though this research is still in its early stages, it’s grappling with essential methods in food and diet studies where advances are really needed,” Walsh said. “Measuring what we eat and drink more accurately will widen the benefits of nutrition research, developing better evidence-based interventions to improve an individual’s health and reduce obesity.”
And no less than the UK’s National Health Services (NHS) in an article published on the NHS website, concluded that, “This well-designed, randomized crossover trial investigated whether the dietary intake in individuals could be revealed and measured using urine samples and found that it is possible.”
New Tool Aids Clinical Laboratories in Diagnosis and Treatment of Obesity
This fun application of diagnostics could help consumers with their health, lifestyle, and dietary choices. In addition, it could help doctors address the obesity epidemic that threatens both the US and Europe.
A 2013 study published in The Lancet indicated that more than 3 million people worldwide had died from cardiovascular complications related to obesity. And a 2014 news release from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states that, among the countries that the OECD monitors, which includes the US, England, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Korea, and others, most people are overweight or obese. And, tragically, one in five children also are overweight.
Thus, the critical need for more precise diagnostic tools and lab tests that doctors can use to treat the disease. Such a tool would also have huge market potential.
Additionally, the new technology could enable new and different ways to assess and diagnose many other aspects of health or disease making it highly useful in diagnostic pathology settings and clinical laboratories.
—Andrea Downing Peck
Related Information:
Urine Test Could Reveal If Your Diet Is a Threat to Your Health
Scientists Have Developed a Urine Test That Measures the Health of a Person’s Diet
Objective Assessment of Dietary patterns by Use of Metabolic Phenotyping: A Randomized, Controlled, Crossover Trial
Urine Test Reveals What You Really Eat
